Honor Boards

During WW1 and in the decade that followed, 'Honor Boards', also known as 'Honor Rolls',* were constructed and displayed in towns across Australia. An Honor Board was a list of the members of a local society or institution who had enlisted in the Army. Schools erected Honor Boards of ex-students who had signed on, and churches of their joined-up parishioners. Post Offices, and fire-stations, and railway employees'clubs, and other recreational, commercial, and philanthropic bodies, including local branches of State and and Federal organisations such as the Australian Natives' Association, all created and publicly displayed honor lists of their own.

It has been suggested that Honor Boards were erected by communities impatient to have their contribution to the war effort acknowledged and, more cynically, that displaying the names of those who had accepted their duty to serve was a reminder to men who had not yet enlisted.

In September 1920 the Honor Board of the Avoca branch of the Australian Natives’ Association (ANA) was unveiled. It had been made in Avoca, by Mr H.F. Classen, the town's cabinetmaker.

Unveiling the Board, Mr Moir, the Chief President of the Association, declared that the Avoca Board was typical of the many Honor Boards he had unveiled in Victoria. It was a 'splendid work of art, made from Australian timber by skilled Australian hands, and designed by a skilled brain'. He was concerned in his address to note that history was soon forgotten and many boards would be neglected, but he prophesied that 'the boards, if cared for, would be of greater value in the future, as [Australians] wanted their descendants to know who helped to make the history of this great island continent'.

 

The ANA Honor Roll now located in the Avoca RSL Hall

In October 1999, Mr Herb Robinson, an Avoca WW2 veteran, kindly arranged for me to view several of the town's Honor Boards in various churches, local halls and in the Avoca RSL. I was able to learn a little about the men whose names are recorded on Avoca's honour boards and about the Avoca associations that erected these memorials to them.

* 'Honour' is variously spelled, with and without the 'u'; as with 'Labor' in the name of the political party the British convention was not always followed.

Norman Alfred Frean

Norman Alfred Frean is remembered on the Australian Natives' Association soldiers' honor board which was unveiled at the Avoca Shire hall on 21 September 1920. (Avoca Free Press 25 September 1920)

Frean enlisted at South Melbourne on 19 August 1914. He was 22 years old, unmarried, and his occupation was bicycle builder. He had been born in South Melbourne. He married on 3 September 1914.

Frean served as a sapper with the 1st Signal Troop (1st Light Horse Brigade). He sailed on 20 October 1914 aboard the HMAT Karroo A10.

Troops on board HMAT Karroo (A10) prior to departure with well-wishers on the wharf holding paper streamers connecting them to men on the ship. 18 September 1916. Australian War Memorial ID PB0507

On 31 May 1915 Frean was wounded by shrapnel at Gaba Tepe, Gallipoli. He was wounded again in June and repatriated to Melbourne. He was discharged from the AIF in early 1916.

It is not clear from his dossier held by the National Archives of Australia what his connection to Avoca was. (National Archives of Australia: Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office; B2455, First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920; Frean Norman Alfred : SERN 26 : POB Melbourne VIC : POE Melbourne VIC : NOK Frean Mrs E A)

There are also no clues in the digitised newspaper collection at Trove.nla.gov.au.  However, on the 1919 electoral roll Norman Alfred Frean, mechanic, was recorded as living at Bealiba, a town 38 kilometres north of Avoca. His post-war connection to the Avoca community meant that he was remembered on the A. N. A. soldiers' honor board.

Barry Wilson

No title. (1914, October 14). Avoca Free Press and Farmers' and Miners' Journal (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved October 3, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article151623934

Barwise Carr Wilson (1874 - 1943), a 40 year old widower with three children and one step child, enlisted at Avoca in October 1914.

Wilson was a coach painter by occupation and had only recently set up business in Avoca.

No title. (1914, June 17). Avoca Free Press and Farmers' and Miners' Journal (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved October 5, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article151623918

On enlistment Barry Wilson arranged for his children be boarded with a Mrs Daly of Percydale.

National Archives of Australia: Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office; B2455, First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920; Wilson Barwise Carr : SERN 606 : POB Talbot VIC : POE Avoca VIC : NOK N/A. Page 5.

Wilson sailed from Australia on HMAT A10 Karroo on 11 February 1915. He fought at Gallipoli,  most notably at the Battle of Hill 60 where his regiment, the 9th Light Horse, suffered many casualties.

Members of the 9th Australian Light Horse Regiment standing to in the trenches at Gallipoli. Australian War Memorial image id H02778 retrieved from http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H02778/

A group of 9th Australian Light Horsemen at the foot of Walker's Ridge. (Gallipoli). Australian War Memorial image id C04613 retrieved from http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C04613/

Rhododendron Ridge, Gallipoli. 1915. Members of the 9th Light Horse regiment sniping over the top of the trenches. Australian War Memorial image id P01531.005 retrieved from http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P01531.005/

Although he was not wounded in the Battle of Hill 60, Wilson became ill soon afterwards and after several admissions to hospital was eventually repatriated to Australia on 12 November 1917 and was discharged as medically unfit in January 1918.

NAA:B2455, Wilson B C. Page 18.

NAA:B2455, Wilson B C. Page 19.

In 1916 Wilson wrote to Mrs Daly. His letter probably refers to the Battle of Romani fought 4 to 5 August 1916.

For the Empire. (1916, September 27). Avoca Free Press and Farmers' and Miners' Journal (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved October 5, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article151684914

Masaid, Sinai. c. 1916. The Headquarters of the 3rd Australian Light Horse Brigade and the camp site of the 9th Australian Light Horse Regiment at a post near El Arish. Australian War Memorial image id H13715 retrieved from http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H13715/

Wilson had been born in Talbot,  25 kilometers east of Avoca.  He was a member of the Australian Natives' Association, a mutual society for men born in the Australian colonies. He received a parcel of tobacco and cigarettes from the Avoca ANA Lodge.

No title. (1917, October 10). Avoca Free Press and Farmers' and Miners' Journal (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved October 5, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article151686116

Trooper Wilson was welcomed home to Avoca in December 1917.

WELCOME HOME TO TROOPER B. C. WILSON. (1917, December 28). Avoca Mail (Vic. : 1915 -1918), p. 2. Retrieved October 5, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article152147949